by Dojyomaru
On this clear day, I was flying through the sky on Naden’s back while she was in ryuu form.
This height had scared me at first, but after a number of times being sent out to do weather reporting, I was now completely used to it. Now, I could even sleep at an altitude of 1,000 meters.
Though Naden gets mad if I sleep...
“Is something the matter, sire?” Aisha asked.
“It’s nothing,” I told her.
It was just that today Aisha was seated behind me, with her hands wrapped tightly around my waist. That was because we were heading to Aisha’s homeland, the God-protected Forest.
“Still, why are we going to the God-protected Forest so suddenly?” Aisha asked.
“Because we got engaged, but I haven’t gone to give my regards to Sir Wodan. We’ve been communicating with letters, but I’ve been meaning to find the time to go see him.”
“It was to see him about the betrothal?!”
“Yeah. I’ve already talked to Liscia’s parents, and Juna’s guardian is Excel, so I’ve spoken with her. For Naden, Tiamat is like her mother, so the formalities are taken care of there, too. For Roroa... I intend to visit their grave soon.”
Near Van, the former capital of the Principality, there was a grave for the Amidonian royal family. Roroa’s parents lay at rest there. I couldn’t imagine Gaius would have blessed our marriage, but I had to believe that Roroa’s mother, a cheerful woman according to Sir Gouran, would have pacified him.
“So, that being the case, we’re visiting Aisha’s family home, huh?” Naden asked.
“Urgh... If that was what this was about, you could have told me. I’m not mentally prepared...” Aisha ground her forehead against my back.
Leaving the confused Aisha alone for a bit, I talked to my other fiancée, who was kindly giving us a ride.
“Sorry, Naden. Making you give Aisha a ride again, too.”
I gave her a pat on the back.
She turned her ryuu head around to look our way and replied, “I don’t really mind if it’s Aisha,” using her telepathy. “She’s ridden me before. Besides, ‘the partner of my partner is like my partner.’”
“Yeah, you were saying something like that before.”
Aisha, who seemed to have recovered from writhing in embarrassment, tilted her head to the side. “Hm... If Naden and I are partners, which of us is the husband?”
What is this stupidity Aisha was suddenly spouting? ...was what I thought, but Naden pondered the question with a surprising amount of seriousness.
“Hmm, wouldn’t it be you, Aisha? You’re strong, after all.”
“In your ryuu form, you’re strong, too.”
“But compared to Juna, you’re more of a husband type, wouldn’t you say?”
“Comparing me to Juna isn’t fair! She’s more of a woman than anyone.”
“In this form, my breasts are bigger than hers... Wait, saying that just makes me sad. But when you think of it that way, isn’t Liscia the most like a husband?”
“Lady Liscia is gutsy,” Aisha agreed. “In a way, she’s better husband material than His Majesty.”
“You’re just saying whatever you want...” Hearing the two of them talk, my shoulders slumped. It was true enough; I was nowhere near as gutsy as Liscia. “Still, in the end, you’d both prefer to be the wife, right?”
““Well, of course.””
“For my part, I need both of you to be my brides.”
“Sire!” Aisha cried.
“Souma!”
The two both smiled bashfully.
I was embarrassed having said it, too.
“It’s awkward having my superior flirting right beside me, you realize?” Hal complained.
He was flying beside us on the back of Ruby, who was in red dragon form. He looked at us with a face like he’d been forced to drink boiled sugar.
His mount was looking at Naden with her golden eyes, too.
“You, too, Naden,” Ruby rebuked and then looked away sulkily. “If you’re a dragon of the Star Dragon Mountain Range, keep yourself together when your knight is riding you. That is the dignity expected of a knight’s partner.”
“Souma’s not a knight, he’s a king, so there.”
“Don’t quibble! That makes him higher than a knight!”
“Oh, geez, shut up!”
The two of them started arguing high up in the sky.
While they weren’t as hostile as they had been when I’d first met the two of them, neither of them had changed their stubborn personalities, so fights like this were a daily occurrence.
That said, they did it as friends.
As my fiancée, Naden’s position was far higher than Ruby’s, but the fact they could fight on equal terms showed that Naden and Ruby didn’t let that come between them. They were each the only person the other knew from their homeland here, after all.
Then Naden said, “Nyahh!” and barred her teeth. “You can stop worrying about me and get along with your own knight, can’t you?! That fox-eared mage isn’t here today, so you can get as lovey-dovey as you want.”
“Wh-What are you saying?! I wouldn’t...”
“Oh, my, what’s this? Your face is all red, Ruby?” Naden teased.
“It’s naturally that color!”
After that, Naden and Ruby kept shouting and having a good time. Where did the dignity expected of a knight’s partner go...? Well, if they were getting along and fighting with each other, I could let that go.
“But there wasn’t any need for me to come, was there?” Hal asked. “If Young Miss Aisha and Young Miss Naden are with you, isn’t that enough to protect you?”
It was true; when I had the greatest warrior in the kingdom, Aisha, and Naden, who in her ryuu form could probably take on over ten wyvern riders at once, with me, there was no point in bringing Hal to protect me.
However, there was a good reason for bringing him along.
“When I sent Sir Wodan a letter saying, ‘I will come to visit soon,’ I was asked to bring you with me, too,” I explained. “It seems Sir Sur has been wanting to see you.”
“By Sir Sur, you mean... Ohh, that dark elf who came to reinforce us before, huh?” Hal said, clapping his hands.
Back when the Forbidden Army and the Army had been staring each other down near Randel, there had been a unit of dark elf archers rushing to their aid as thanks for the relief they’d received after the landslide disaster. The one leading those reinforcements had been Sir Sur. Our troops had been stretched thin at the time, so I was still really grateful remembering that assistance.
“But why does he want to meet me?” Hal asked. “He’s already repaid his debts, hasn’t he?”
“Oh, well, it seems the one who really wants to meet with you is Sur’s daughter. She was apparently one of the people you saved while searching for survivors with me.”
“...Yeah, I don’t remember her. We saved a lot of people that time, after all.”
“Even if you’ve forgotten her, she hasn’t forgotten you. You’re the man who saved her life, after all.”
“Only because that was the mission...” Hal scratched at his head.
He wasn’t good at accepting excessive praise. He might run wild at times, but that straightforward nature of his was very like Hal, and it left a good impression on me.
“Let her thank you, at least,” I said. “Now then... Come on, Naden, Ruby, don’t just keep fighting forever. Let’s hurry on to the God-protected Forest. Sir Wodan is waiting for us.”
“Oh! Yeah. Roger that.”
“R-Roger.”
And with the two dragon girls having come to their senses and picked up the pace, we headed for the God-protected Forest.
The green leaves of the God-protected Forest shone in the summer sun.
When coming to provide aid before, we had stopped the rhinoceros train outside and headed for the village on foot, but this time we were coming from the air, so we could land directly in the dark elf villag
e.
“H-He really came on a dragon!” an elf exclaimed.
“That’s a big’un...”
They weren’t wary because we had notified them in advance, but the dark elves curiously watched the ryuu and the dragon descend from a distance.
When we touched down and Naden and Ruby took human form, the people who had been watching from a distance rushed in like a dam had just burst. Surrounded by dark elves of all ages, from children to adults, we ended up getting manhandled.
“What?! You girls are dragons?!”
“Wowwwie! Hey, transform again!”
“Why, King Souma, how good of you to come visit.”
“You were a great help last time.”
“Hey, Lady Aisha, good of you to come back.”
“Lady Aisha, congratulations on your betrothal to His Majesty.”
“Is this red-headed girl Sir Hal’s partner? She’s a beauty.”
“Who is this black-haired kid? Huh? She’s not a kid?”
That was about how it went, with the questions flying fast and it not being clear who was saying what to whom until somebody clapped their hands.
Looking in the direction of the noise, Aisha’s father Sir Wodan was looking on with a wry smile.
“Everyone, His Majesty and his entourage have only just arrived. It is rude to surround and interrogate them like that.”
When Wodan lightly told them off, the dark elves stepped back seeming a little embarrassed.
Now that we were free from the crowd, we could finally catch our breaths.
“You’re a lifesaver, Sir Wodan,” I said gratefully.
“No, no, the villagers were being rude. However, this is because when they learned that you, who came to the aid of our village, were coming to visit, they all became excited about how they had to welcome you. Please, forgive them.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m grateful for the warm welcome.”
Sir Wodan and I exchanged a firm handshake. In that moment, the dark elves all started clapping...
I dunno, being this welcome was kind of embarrassing.
“Now, it won’t do for us to stand here talking forever,” Sir Wodan said, indicating which direction he wanted us to go. “Please, come to my house.”
“Chief.” A hand went up from inside the crowd of dark elves.
The one with his hand raised was Sir Sur, who had lead the reinforcements that came during our battle against the Army.
“I wanted to invite Sir Halbert to my own house,” he said. “Would that be all right?”
“Hmm, what do you say, King Souma?” Sir Wodan asked.
I smiled and nodded. “I don’t mind. That was why I brought him along in the first place.”
“Thank you,” Sur said. “Now, Sir Halbert, please come to my house.”
“O-Okay?”
Hal was dragged off with Sur pulling him by the arm. Ruby hurried after them.
Having parted with Hal, Aisha, Naden, and I went to Sir Wodan’s house.
Looking at the village along the way, I could see almost no signs of the disaster that had happened here before. Their houses were in a forest to begin with, and many were simple, so it must not have taken long to rebuild them.
“You’ve come a long way towards recovering already,” I commented.
“That is thanks to your generous provision of materials,” Sir Wodan said. “Thank you, sincerely.”
“I ought to thank you. Thank you for sending those reinforcements during the recent war.”
“It was nothing. Those are the times when we most need to help one another.”
As we walked, we entered Wodan’s house.
Having been shown through to the living room, Wodan offered me the head seat at the table, but I firmly declined.
“I’m not here as a king today, but as a single man, here to take Aisha to wife. Please, sit at the head of the table, Sir Wodan.”
“...I see.”
Sir Wodan sat in the head seat, while I sat across from him. I had Aisha sit next to me, and Naden sat a little behind us, waiting.
Then I bowed my head. “Even though my betrothal to Aisha was agreed on, I must apologize for having been so busy that it delayed my coming to give you, her father, my regards. Please, give me your daughter... give me Aisha as my wife.”
“P-Please, Father.” Aisha hurriedly bowed her head.
When I glanced over, Naden was bowing her head along with us.
Sir Wodan sighed a little. “Raise your heads,” he said.
When I raised my face, Sir Wodan had tried to force a smile, but failed. It was an awkward expression.
“I am sure Aisha requested this marriage, didn’t she? There is no need for you to bow your head, Sir Souma. This is complicated for me as a father, but if it is my daughter’s wish... it seems I must give you my blessing.”
“Fatheeer...” Aisha said tearfully, her voice full of emotion. Sir Wodan gave her a smile, then returning his face to normal, he looked me in the eye.
“We dark elves are a long-lived race. Aisha is younger than you, and will live longer, I am sure. Even if you reach the end of your natural life, you will be leaving Aisha behind. Do you understand that?”
“Yes.”
The life of an ordinary human like myself, when looked at by a member of a long-lived race like Naden or Aisha, had to look like a short thing. Even so, Aisha and Naden both wanted to be with me.
In order to ensure they did not regret the time spent with me, I thought from the bottom of my heart that I would endeavor to be a good king, and a good partner. Even if a time when we would be forced to part was to come...
However, it seemed what Sir Wodan wanted to say was a little different than what I was reflecting on. He began to speak, sounding like he had found some sort of enlightenment.
“However, long-lived as our races are, if we cannot live to the end of our natural lives, it is possible for us to live a shorter time than humans. We can die in war or accidents. If we catch epidemic diseases, we die quite easily. My own wife, Aisha’s mother, lost her life to such a disease. If you let your guard down because she is long-lived, Aisha may pass on before you do.”
I was silent.
“So, please, take care of Aisha. Give her a new family and fond memories for the time when, someday, you go on ahead of her.” Sir Wodan quietly bowed his head.
A father’s wish was always for his daughter’s happiness.
I would soon be a father myself. I didn’t know if it would be a boy or a girl yet, but there might come a day when, like Sir Wodan, I would entrust my child to someone.
I chose my words carefully and answered him in a calm tone. “Aisha is a far stronger person than I. From here on... I am sure she will defend me on the battlefield.”
He was silent.
“That being the case, I believe I will try to protect Aisha’s smile from everything else. So that, someday, she can see me off with a smile. So that she will not regret our time together.”
“Sire...” Aisha cried and drew closer to me.
I could hear sniffling from behind me, too. Her tears had likely made Naden start crying, too.
Sir Wodan stood up and walked towards me. Then, placing his hands over mine and Aisha’s, he smiled and said, “Sir Souma, I’m counting on you to take care of Aisha.”
“Yes, Father, I will.”
“Aisha. Be happy.”
“I will... Father.”
“Madam Naden, I am sure you will be Sir Souma’s wife, too. Please, treat Aisha well as a member of the same family.”
“Of course I will! Roger that!”
Having heard our responses, Sir Wodan smiled broadly and nodded in satisfaction.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, around that time...
Having broken off from Souma and the others, Halbert ended up being practically dragged into Sur’s house.
He walked where his hand was being pulled. With Halbert’s strength, which was among the top in the k
ingdom, it would be easy to shake free of this hand, but he felt nothing but goodwill from Sur, and so he couldn’t treat the man poorly.
Ruby hurried after the two of them.
Halbert turned just his head back in her direction and asked in a whisper, “H-Hey, Ruby, what’s going on here?!”
“D-Don’t ask me,” she whispered back. “Can’t you get away?”
“If he were hostile, that’d be one thing, but I’d feel bad brushing off an invitation made with goodwill...”
“Then all we can do is wait and see how it goes, right?”
While the two of them were having that exchange, Sur turned back with a smile. “Okay, we’re here. Welcome to my home.”
““Huh?””
By the time they realized it, the two had been led to a small house with a thatched roof. It was clearly the abode of a farmer, but the roof was bizarrely steep.
“That’s an awfully pointy house you’ve got... huh...”
Halbert’s opinion was more or less exactly how it looked, so Sur laughed.
“Here in this forest, when winter comes, we get a fair amount of snow accumulation. If we don’t use roofs like this so the snow falls off, they’ll collapse.”
“You get that much accumulation?” Hal asked.
“Yes. Because of it, we cannot hunt in winter, and everyone spends their time indoors, mending things or doing maintenance on their weapons. Though last year’s winter was different.”
“How so?”
Sur indicated the pile of lumber next to the stairs. “Because we had lumber from the trees knocked down by the landslide, as well as from the periodic thinning His Majesty advised us to do. We were making pieces of traditional art before, like statues, but they seem to have become popular in the outside world, and are creating significant wealth for us. There are occasionally merchants who receive permission from both the kingdom and the God-protected Forest to come buy them.”
“Wow...”
“The most popular of them was... Let’s see, I think I had one around here...” Sur said and began digging through the wood pile.
Not long passed before he pulled a long, thin object from the pile.
“Ahh, here it is.” He held it up for Halbert and Ruby to see. “This is it. This is the most popular item.”